Okay, the October 2008 Story contest starts tonight!
Entries must not have been posted anywhere before 12:01 AM PST Wednesday, October 1, 2008. After that datetime, to enter the contest, they must be posted to BigCloset TopShelf, Stardust or Fictioneer before 11:59 PM PDT Sunday, November 2, 2008. They can also be posted anywhere else the author pleased during or after that date.
All entries remain the intellectual property and copyright of the author, unless the author otherwise states on the posting.
Stories should be 1500 to 10,000 words, though longer and shorter entries will be accepted. No drabbles or poetry, please. No fanfiction and no excerpts from continuing stories. No stories based on continuing characters or shared universes. There will be other contests for all those things.
The theme for the contest is "All Souls Day" which is November 2 and is also known as "Day of the Dead" but isn't actually a movie.
There will be prizes. This is a popularity contest, much like the one on the Tuesday after the contest except the prizes are much better, actual cash which is almost as good as plastic (at least, right at the moment it is).
One prize will go to a story posted to each website and at least two other prizes will be awarded. Members of the websites will be voting on this contest, sorry non-members. All of the prizes are $25 with an additional $25 for the grand prize. Entries on the various websites should meet the website's standards: no incest or underage sex on Stardust; general fiction on Fictioneer and transgender fiction on Stardust and BigCloset.
Voting will probably be on the following weekend, after we find out who won the other contest on Tuesday.
People who know my home address and live within the 7 counties of SoCal are not eligible. Bob Arnold and Sephrena Miller are also not eligible.
Stories must be marked with the Contest Entry Category "All Souls Day 2008 Story Contest".
More later.
Hugs,
Erin
Comments
ADMIN PLEASE DELETE THIS HERE COMMENT
it didnt pertain to anything
Well shit, I guess it really CAN happen here..,
.
HEY!
That was cool, put it back! LOL!
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
No drabbles? But ......... but.....
(Okay Erin, I'm putting it back. You know how spooked I get about what's an appropriate comment.
What can I say, I'm a nut. This will be going into my collection of non-tg. drabbles at Fictioneer...)
.
A Tale of the Macabre
by Laika Pupkino
As we entered the Museum of Literary Devices, Cliff Andrews and I hung our coats on the narrative hooks. We watched in fascination as a native artisan operated a framing device. There was a big part of the museum we couldn't visit because they were breaking the fourth wall. We rode the Deus ex Machina a few times, and then dangled our feet in the stream of consciousness, gorging ourselves on plot twists. As we were about to leave, Cliff approached an odd looking gizmo.
I screamed, "No Cliff, don't stick your neck in there! That's a-"
.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Well shit, I guess it really CAN happen here..,
.
I'd like more info please
Other than after Halloween, I don't have a clue what this is about..what religion(s) follow it or anything else??? I know my religion (such that it is) doesn't follow it...
Thanks
Frank
Traditional, originally? Catholic holiday
Nowadays it's more secular, like Halloween.
Halloween is All Hallows Eve, the evening before All Saints Day, November 1. All Souls Day is the day after All Saints.
In Mexico and many other countries, El Dia de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, All Souls Day, is celebrated by handing out candy skulls to kids -- pretty much like our Halloween except they do it in the day time and you don't have to extort anyone to get your candy. :)
Really, it's a hold over, like Yule and Easter and Mayday of old pagan holidays given a fresh coat of paint by some old ancient Christian priests who preferred that if people had a holiday, they had a Christian reason for it.
F'r instance, evidence in the Bible suggests that Jesus of Nazareth was most likely born in the month we call March. But the early Church needed a celebration near the Winter Solstice to displace the old pagan ones. Easter had already been co-opted (without changing its name) for what most of the Church leaders thought was the more important holiday. So Christmas is in December and most people think Yule is just another name for it. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
This sounds like
the perfect reason to finish my Evil Dead fanfic, 'Dressed to Kill'. A little tweak here, a little tweak there...
Melanie E.
can it be non-catholic in
can it be non-catholic in origin? As in, "Dia de Muertos?" which is a native celebration that coincided with the european celebration.
I think...
...basically, every culture had some kind of celebration related to death or remembrance around the harvest time, so yeah, of course. El Dia de Los Muertos is the Mexican version, and it has both native and European roots. :)
But the stories just have to have a spooky element, it's a ghost story writing contest for October. And I always end contests on a Sunday evening and since this year that makes it ending on All Souls Day, I thought it would be neat to call the contest that instead of just another Halloween story contest. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Ohhh
Thanks for explaining. I was totally clueless about what it meant.
Suggestions?
I'm not familiar enough with the TG ghost story subgenre. Are there any cliches that should be avoided?
Rules clarification
In order to clarify what I meant about original story for the contest, I'm adding this to the rules: No fanfiction and no excerpts from continuing stories. There will be other contests for those things as there have been in the past.
Sorry that wasn't clearer.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Does That Mean
That I can't use my TransBike to tell a story for the contest? each story is seperate.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
No continuing characters
I'm going to say no continuing characters, no to Transbike, because I want this contest to be all new material. Sorry.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Oh, well.
looks like I'll have to skip this contest, unfortunately- I already have too many stories to work on that I've already started or committed to, let alone starting something completely new. Let's see...
-Echoes
-Oh, Cheers (the gaming weekends)
-Hollywood (still out there waiting for the others I've already started posting to be complete before I do more here)
-Boys of Summer
-Evil Dead: Dressed to Kill (rackin' frackin' no fanfics why I autta-)
-Code Name: Anonymous (to be further revealed at a later date)
I think I'm gonna be pretty full up for, oh, the next three years or so, wouldn't you say?
Melanie E.
Yeah, sorry
We'll probably have another contest before too long. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
So no Sequels?
Kim had plans laid out for several sequels to her Ressurection Mary series. I was going to pull one of those out. :(
-P
I actually LIKE image SIGs!
Love to see that
But this contest is for stand alone new stuff. Sorry, hon. The next contest will allow serials and fanfics again, but we need to mix it up sometimes.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Multi-part entries in contest
If you have a multi-part entry in the All Souls Contest, remember it has to be a complete story, not part of a continuing series that began before the contest and it has to have an ending before the contest ends -- though you could plan a sequel for after the contest.
And for multi-parters, only mark one part for the contest, either the first part, the last part or preferably the title page. Usually, Sephrena or I or sometimes one of the editors will make a title page for you but we will assign it to you as poster so you can edit it. We make the title page within about thirty hours of the second chapter of a multi-parter coming out, usually within six or eight hours.
Remember also that the contest has a recommended story length though shorter and longer submissions will be accepted. (No drabbles, though, a drabble isn't a story, really.)
Hugs and good luck,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Okay so like
I know it says like ghosts and stuff but do monsters and other such creatures count too mew?
I know who I am, I am me, and I like me ^^
Transgender, Gamer, Little, Princess, Therian and proud :D
Spooky is as spooky does
If you think it fits the theme, I'll take your word for it. :) You just have to convince the voters. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Erin, once the story is posted here, can it be posted
elsewhere? Or does it have to wait until 11/2 and after. I'm not sure how to read that above.
Hugs,
Kristy
Multi-posting
Sure posting else where after entering in the contest here is fine. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
All Souls Day Contest
There are only a few days left to get your entries in!
I'm sorry to say that some entries have had to be disqualified for being set in shared universes, being fan fiction, or drabbles, or featuring continuing characters from a series. THIS contest is more restrictive than the usual BCTS story contest. There will be other contests in the future that allow some or all of the things not allowed in this one.
Thanks to everyone who has already submitted a story, including those people whose stories were disqualified (and apologies to them). If you haven't submitted a story, remember the deadline is Sunday at midnight, my time, or 11:59 PST. (That's right, pSt, the time changes on Saturday night here in the US.)
Hugs to all,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
My Mission, If I Choose to Accept
I have not yet started on mine, having being focused on finishing another story. But now I am done and am wondering if I can get it done in time. Well screw it, even if I don't, I'm going to try. And if I miss the deadline, it's not like the +Fiction link will be revoked, I can still post it.